Americans Feel ‘Big Brother’ Is Here: Survey

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A majority of Americans agree with the statement, “We are really in the era of Big Brother,” says a survey.

Americans Feel ‘Big Brother’ Is Here: Survey

The survey was conducted by the University of Southern California in 2012 when there were no such issues like secret government surveillance programs. Even then, around 35 percent of the respondents said that there is no privacy and one cannot really expect it.

Findings

The survey finds that there is a continuous increase in the number of such internet users who think that the government keeps an eye on the online activities of the users, and there were users who raised concerns over companies which might be doing covert surveillance.

Out of total users surveyed, 43 percent of internet users said that they suspect that the government is monitoring their activities online. In 2010, 38 percent of the users were concerned over this. However, around 57 percent of users were concerned that the private companies might be doing the same thing, which is an increase of over 48 percent from the previous survey.

Sample Size

Over 2,000 U.S. households are polled by the USC Annenberg School’s Center for the Digital Future over the use of internet and technology every year. However, the poll was not conducted in 2011.

Pew Research Center conducted a survey in 2012, in which around three-quarters of American users raised concerns over private companies that are collecting excessive information about them. However, 64 percent were concerned about the government monitoring their activities.

Internet a Vital Part of the American Lifestyle

According to the recent report, though there is concern about surveillance, 86 percent of Americans are online now, which is an increase over 2010. The increase is the highest in the survey history, and it also depicts that the internet has become a vital part of the American lifestyle.

Jeff Cole, author of the study and director of the center said, “We find that people almost never lose their mobile phone. They can drop it in the gutter, have it stolen or leave it on the table at a restaurant—but most of us don’t even get through the front door before noticing it.”

In the survey, a majority of the internet users indicated that they use mobile phones for getting online, which is an increase by a third compared to the result of 2010. Texting is also playing an important role for all age groups.

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